The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18, (USC1030) (CFAA) of 1986, created and passed by Congress to reduce the hacking incidence of computer systems. It was last updated as part of the Patriot Act in 2001, raising penalties, increasing jail time, expanding the definition of loss, and making it easier to show damage Organizations can make use of CFAA against employees who wrongfully use data that was on their computer systems, for example, to give to competitors, or start a business. The CFAA is a federal statute which authorizes penalties, terms of imprisonment, and civil actions.
Published in Chapter:
Combating Computer Fraud
Steve Brown (Capella University, USA)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 6
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-881-9.ch019
Abstract
Money is to be made with computer fraud. While this statement seems to be shocking, it is nonetheless a very real indication of the seriousness of the nature. As we are becoming more dependent on technology for our information and convenience, and the lack of process being made in stopping computer fraud, we are increasing the risk we place on ourselves. Computer fraud is often perpetuated by computer professionals who have an understanding of information technology. They have an advantage over the normal computer user, and due to the anonymous nature of the Internet, it is often difficult to catch and try suspects (Lynch, 2003).